Endocrine Abstracts

Type 2 diabetes is a disease of insulin secretory dysfunction and insufficiency, that cannot compensate for the acquired insulin resistance. It has now been widely acknowledged that a major contributor to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes is a significant decrease in pancreatic ß-cell mass. An optimal pancreatic ß-cell population is normally maintained as a balance between net ß-cell growth (the sum of the extent of ß-cell replication, neogenesis and size...

Maternal nutrient restriction has been suggested to influence adult offspring HPA axis function. Here, we have studied maternal global nutrient or specific protein restriction and characterised offspring HPA axis response (of plasma cortisol and metabolite excursions) to an insulin tolerance test at 1 year of age. Thirty-nine pregnant sheep were either fed a control diet (replete in energy and protein; n=12) meeting maintenance energy requirements 1.0 M or were fed a di...

Background: LHX4 encodes a member of the LIM-homeodomain transcription factor protein family that is required for development of the pituitary gland. To date, only incompletely penetrant heterozygous mutations in LHX4 have been described in patients with variable combined pituitary hormone deficiencies (CPHD).Objective/hypothesis: To investigate a cohort of patients with congenital hypopituitarism for mutations in LHX4.<p c...